The subject application is directed generally to document processing device fleet management. More particularly, the subject application is directed to generating reports of document processing device operations via a thin-client interface. In particular, the subject application is directed to a system and method for document processing device operation monitoring.
Document processing devices are in widespread use today and include copiers, printers, scanners, facsimile machines, plotters, electronic mail gateways, and the like. More recently, two or more of such machine functions have been combined into a single device, referred to as a multifunction peripheral or MFP. Many enterprises will distribute document processing devices throughout an office, within a building, among multiple buildings, or among multiple locations. In such circumstances, monitoring or auditing of each device is required so as to ascertain usage data, resource consumption, user preference data, and other such operational information. This information is typically collated into one or more reports so that the enterprise is able to determine costs of ownership, device utilization, user usage, and the like. The acquisition and collation of such information is a time-consuming process, requiring significant amounts of effort on the part of the enterprise. Furthermore, real-time acquisition and report generation of such information is not automatically available to the enterprise as such information must first be collected, in some instances manually, by dedicated technicians or personnel.